There's a chance for one team to clinch the NFC West title, while another is fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The Seattle Seahawks having their best start in franchise history and could very well have the best home-field advantage with a win this Sunday.The last time the Seahawks had home field advantage throughout the playoffs they made it to the Super Bowl, but got robbed out of that opportunity. The Arizona Cardinals on the other hand, they have a chance at making the playoffs for the first time in 4 years.
 |
| Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports |
 |
| AP Photo/Rick Scuteri |
The last time the Arizona Cardinals won in Seattle was in 2009, which was also the last time the Card's made the playoffs.The Arizona Cardinals have the best run defense in the league only allowing only about 83 yards per game on the ground, but haven't faced anybody similar to Marshawn Lynch since, Marshawn Lynch, who was able to gobble up 91 tough yards and a TD on 21 carries. The Cardinals recently lost rookie S Tyrann Mathieu, who was leading NFC rookie defensive backs with 65 tackles, and gave up 34 points in their first game without him last week, although they did get a tough win over the Tennessee Titans in overtime. If they want a shot at winning in Seattle they are going to have to try to keep the score lower than that.
The Seattle Seahawks have the best pass defense in the league, holding opposing QB's to an average of about 174 yards. Coming off a dominant performance over the New York Giants, where the Hawks were able to get themselves a little more familiar with sight of Super Bowl XLVIII. Seattle as a team is 2nd in the league in rushing yards with 1,974 thru the season so far, with Marshawn Lynch running for 1,089 of those along with 11 TD's and should be able to break the goal line at home even tho he will be stacking up against the best rush defense in the league.
I think the key to this game for Arizona to have a shot is going to be containing QB Russell Wilson, who was able to dissect the Card's secondary pretty well last time around, throwing for 235 yards and 3 TD's. They will also need to load the box for Lynch as well who should get a heavy dose of carries since the weather is calling for cold and rainy game. Stopping Lynch is no easy task, he has been held to a meager 54 yards per game since the Bye week in Week 12, but is still averaging over 18 rushes a game. LB Karlos Dansby is leading the Cardinals with 105 tackles on the year, the next closest to him on his team is the rookie Mathieu with 65, who is out for the season. They also have LB John Abraham, who is in his first year in Arizona, who leads the team with 11.5 sacks and will be looking to get after Wilson throughout the game. The real problem for Arizona will be getting the offense moving, with the L.O.B. holding their top WR Larry Fitzgerald to only 3 catches for 19 yards in their last two meetings.
The key for the Seattle Seahawks will have to be there penalties. They have improved a little bit but are still one of the top most penalized teams in the league. Some of the penalties are coming just because the L.O.B. is so physical, which is fine because you want to set up a game like that where the WR's are worried about you getting physical with them at the line of scrimmage and it messes up their routes, but the offensive pass interferences they have been getting and of course OT Breno Giacomini, who was one of the most penalized players last season, has improved slightly but is still making some of the same mistakes as last season like offensive holding and false starts. He isn't the only person on the time that has racked up penalties for the Seahawks, but it is something that can set themselves up for failure and the way its looking the Seahawks seem to be the only team that is capable of beating the Seahawks. As long as the penalties are under control and the run game gets going, as it always does, then the Seahawks will be in good shape to run away with the NFC West title and Home-Field Advantage throughout the playoffs.
Follow me on Twitter - @therealrikrok89
Thank you for reading and come back for more Sports News & Analysis as well as Fantasy Football advice throughout the week. Also check out more of my other posts for some more great insight into the mind of a Sports Fanatic.
Share it, Like it, Tweet it, Vine it, Instagram, whatever social networking tool you use, spread the word so everyone else has the opportunity to bask in all of this Sports Stats and News!
I think the key to this game for Arizona to have a shot is going to be containing QB Russell Wilson, who was able to dissect the Card's secondary pretty well last time around, throwing for 235 yards and 3 TD's. They will also need to load the box for Lynch as well who should get a heavy dose of carries since the weather is calling for cold and rainy game. Stopping Lynch is no easy task, he has been held to a meager 54 yards per game since the Bye week in Week 12, but is still averaging over 18 rushes a game. LB Karlos Dansby is leading the Cardinals with 105 tackles on the year, the next closest to him on his team is the rookie Mathieu with 65, who is out for the season. They also have LB John Abraham, who is in his first year in Arizona, who leads the team with 11.5 sacks and will be looking to get after Wilson throughout the game. The real problem for Arizona will be getting the offense moving, with the L.O.B. holding their top WR Larry Fitzgerald to only 3 catches for 19 yards in their last two meetings.
The key for the Seattle Seahawks will have to be there penalties. They have improved a little bit but are still one of the top most penalized teams in the league. Some of the penalties are coming just because the L.O.B. is so physical, which is fine because you want to set up a game like that where the WR's are worried about you getting physical with them at the line of scrimmage and it messes up their routes, but the offensive pass interferences they have been getting and of course OT Breno Giacomini, who was one of the most penalized players last season, has improved slightly but is still making some of the same mistakes as last season like offensive holding and false starts. He isn't the only person on the time that has racked up penalties for the Seahawks, but it is something that can set themselves up for failure and the way its looking the Seahawks seem to be the only team that is capable of beating the Seahawks. As long as the penalties are under control and the run game gets going, as it always does, then the Seahawks will be in good shape to run away with the NFC West title and Home-Field Advantage throughout the playoffs.
 |
| Rob Schumacher/azcentral sports |
Prediction:
SEA over ARI 37-16
Now my thoughts on division rival games is that they are always going to be a tougher match-up than one would assume just because they play each other twice a year and can prepare for their rivals a lot more thoroughly because of it. The Seahawks demolished the Cardinals last season, shutting them out 58-0 at home. This is a different Cardinals team but something tells me that this game will be a lot more similar to last years blowout. Sorry Card fans don't take it personal, its just that when the 12th Man shows up, opponents feel the noise, literally.
Follow me on Twitter - @therealrikrok89
Thank you for reading and come back for more Sports News & Analysis as well as Fantasy Football advice throughout the week. Also check out more of my other posts for some more great insight into the mind of a Sports Fanatic.
Share it, Like it, Tweet it, Vine it, Instagram, whatever social networking tool you use, spread the word so everyone else has the opportunity to bask in all of this Sports Stats and News!
No comments:
Post a Comment